Mike Kiley Article

[UK1679666180]

- Baker haters seem to ignore the fact that NOT ONE Giant pitcher in my memory and also looking back and checking a few names I was unsure of had a Major Arm Injury during Bakers years in SF, this is simply my guess work and also I did look up a lot of names I could not remember on! (if someone else has other info, please post it)!

 

 

There's a HS coach in the Phoenix area by the name of Bill Swift who disagrees. His teammate Van Landingham also disagrees. As does Estes, who never had the same velocity as he did early on in his Giants career.

[USSoccer]

Baker's team's high OBP is due to Barry Lamar Bonds.

 

Bakers high career win total is due to longevity as a manager, as is his winning percentage. Kind of like the winningest basketball coach is also the losingist.

 

- Baker has given Rookies a shot to play everyday in his past, when the rookie has proven to be a MLB ready player!

 

Completely untrue. There's nothing to back this up.

 

- How anyone can blame Baker for Wood's injuries the last two years is above me! Wood was a MAJOR INJURY RISK starting in 1998.

 

Wood had also not missed much time post 2000, until Baker nuked his arm in 2003. And when you have a "MAJOR INJRUY RISK", you don't have him throw the most pitches in baseball during a given year.

 

 

- I don't blame Baker for using Wood last year out of the bullpen! I do not feel it is Bakers job to assess the risk of using a pitcher, he only goes on guidance from the Cubs Medical team and if Hendry feels Wood should still be pitching. It is NOT Bakers call to put Wood on the DL and shut him down for the season! Can anyone argue with inside knowledge argue Wood asked not to pitch, Medical staff advised against it or Hendry said don't use him?

 

This is not just Baker's fault, but an organizational failure. Baker gets equal blame.

 

- Baker to be 1st in winning % of Cub managers in the last 60 years!

 

He also had the good fortune to manage 3 of the most talented pitchers in Cub history during his tenure. Lucking into success doesn't mean you're good at anything.

 

There are lots of things I did not agree with or do not like about Baker! However I do not have the record as a manager or player for that matter to second guess moves that did not work! Or the ones that worked.

 

Who cares if you've never been a player or a manager? So, just because you aren't either means you can't use evidence to back up an argument or a second guess? That's such a big failing of baseball insiders-they feel that unless you're "in their club", you've no right to talk, which is crap. Some of the most innovative and illuminating baseball thought of the past 25 years has come from non-baseball players. (Gammons and James in particular).

[BigbadB]

By listing the OBP's for all the years Dusty was the manager of the Giants, I do have to ask what happened?

 

Take a look at the 2000 San Francisco Giants. Take out Russ Davis and his 180 at bats, and there wasn't one single other player on that team that had an OBP below .333 (excluding people with less than 15 at bats and pitchers). 5 of the 8 starters were .357+. 3 of them were over .400. Only Bill Mueller was below .340.

 

That Giants team walked almost 300 more times than the Cubs did last year. What happened????????????????????????????????????

 

That Giants team scored 925 runs in 2000. Why can't we have a team that scores that often? Walks sure don't look like they were clogging bases back then.

[UK1679666180]

There are lots of things I did not agree with or do not like about Baker! However I do not have the record as a manager or player for that matter to second guess moves that did not work! Or the ones that worked.

 

I hate these types of remarks, I've never heard a coach say anything close to that. It becomes a point of convenience and against everything a public forum like this stands for.

 

I'll quote "Bobo" Brayton who coached 44 years at the collegiate level and 32 years at Washington State. He is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Washington State University halls of fame....

 

"If you have ever played or coached a game, or if you are a baseball fan, you are a member of the baseball family. This gives you the right to enter any baseball park in the world after paying the admission fee. This gives you the right to be an expert on baseball playing and management. This gives you the right to cheer for any team you wish. It also gives you the right to second-guess any coach, manager, player, or management personnel. You can choose to associate yourself with any subfamily, whether you've been invited or not. If you're a Red Sox family member, you can declare war on any Yankees family member. If you're a Trojans family member, you're automatically at odds with any Bruins family member (Raisin). You can wear a Cubs shirt and be a Cubs family member even though you've never been near Chicago, much less Wrigley Field.

 

With these rights go the privilege of responsibility. None of us are bigger than the game. We owe the game; it doesn't owe us."